How to Clean and Polish Metal to Mirror Finish

[Music]

Hello and welcome to another video. In

this video, what I'm going to do is show

you the process that I use to clean and

polish buff the metal components uh for

the bikes. I've been asked often, can I

show in more detail? That's exactly what

we're going to do today. And uh I'll

showing you how to basically from start

to finish how to clean up the components

of the metal all the way up to the

standard. So yes, looks absolutely

gleaming. So hold on tight and uh yeah,

let's get started. Step one, first we

need to actually wash the components

down, dismantle as much as possible. And

I generally use a small toothbrush,

something like that, just to give the

components a good scrub. Gets rid of all

the grease and grit ready for actually

polishing the metal. What it also does

is show up any actual scratches that we

need to deal with. Step two, deal with

any actual scratches on the metal

itself. Use a metal sandpaper. Uh start

off with quite a grainy uh sandpaper and

work down to real fine actual paper. At

first, you'll think that uh what you're

doing is wrong, but what you're actually

doing is getting rid of that scratch and

you're actually rubbing down into it to

actually uh smooth it out. So, it does

feel a bit alien actually regards to

doing this, but it is the way forward.

we do have to get rid of that scratch

from the metal itself. Step three, once

we've got rid of all the scratches from

the metal itself, we can then start to

polish the metal. In this case, we're

just using a metal polish, a cream

polish, and basically use a clean rag to

actually rub into the actual metal and

then buff off with a nice clean cloth.

However, if we do have access to a drill

or even better still, a bench grinder,

then hold on tight cuz we're going to

take this a step further. Step four,

well, this involves a rubbing compound,

uh, several of and very fast turning

wheels, uh, which is fine with a bench

grinder. So, before we even start, we

need to start thinking safety. Uh, first

things first, we need to think of our

eyes. So, I've got some safety glasses.

Um, so need to get them on. And then we

also need to think about a dust mask.

And the reason for that is is because

there's a lot of airborne uh metal

particles that'll be produced from it

from the compound and also the metal. So

we need a dust

mask. Okay. And also a good set of

gloves. Um I say the wheels turn very

fast and also by dealing with metal. So

you can see I've been using these

already. So it just keeps hands clean

and also protects them as well from the

fast turning wheels. So let's get these

wheels

turning. Okay, so we start off with

quite a hard rubbing compound, black or

brown on the hard wheel

itself. What is very important is to

move the metal into different directions

as possible. So don't keep it going in

the same direction. Move it around and

turn it into different directions.

You don't have to apply that much

pressure to it. Once we've done this, we

then move over to the other softer wheel

and use a green

compound. Then to give that final buff,

move over to a soft wheel using either a

white or blue compound.

Finally, finish off by getting rid of

any excess polish using a cloth with

chalk

powder. Okay. And what I'll also do,

I'll also got a drill attachment uh that

I use for getting into any little

details for the metal itself. So, not

only do I use the bench grinder, I also

use a drill with a soft felt nib to

actually get into all the little nooks

and crannies that I can. I hope that

this has been helpful for you and you

can use it in your own projects. Thanks

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